After Warp Ten
by the ramblin rose
Summary: Janeway x Chakotay Oneshot. Based after Threshold. Chakotay is feeling some jealousy, but Kathryn knows how to bring him back around. Rated for situations.


**AN: So this is just a little one shot that I did. It would, essentially, take place after "Threshold". It's just for entertainment purposes, so don't take it too seriously.**

 **I own nothing from Star Trek.**

 **I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

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Kathryn sunk into her bed. The doctor wanted her in sick bay for a few days, but she'd finally convinced him that she'd recover better in her quarters where she could truly rest. Even being held in sick bay, Kathryn was aware that she was still visible. She was still being watched, and she was still the captain. She would rest better in her own room. The doctor had finally accepted her proposition to let her rest in her private quarters under the condition that she'd take it easy, report to sick bay at least once a day, and she'd let him know if anything seemed out of the ordinary.

"I didn't want to say anything in sick bay," Kathryn said to Chakotay as he moved around readying himself for bed, "because I didn't want Tom to apologize anymore, but this whole ordeal really took it out of me. I'm almost ashamed of how tired I feel."

Chakotay hummed, but didn't say anything. He slipped into bed and Kathryn's bod rocked with the change in weight. He turned the light off as he settled in.

"Ooh," Kathryn groaned, laughing quietly to herself over the sensations of her body. She ran her hands over the sore muscles of her abdomen. "I'm sorer than I expected to be, too," she said. "I can feel it every time I move. I guess the doctor's cure for evolution couldn't take that away."

"It was still your body," Chakotay said, almost dismissively. There was some bite to his tone.

For a number of months Kathryn and Chakotay had been involved. The crew knew about their relationship and they weren't trying to hide it at all. However, both the captain and her first officer still worked to maintain a clear dividing line between their work relationship and their private one. And, though their relationship had arguably not been going on for very long, it felt like they'd been together for a lifetime.

At the risk of always sounding too cliché, Kathryn would have said that they were made for each other. They simply fit together like two pieces of the same whole.

In the short period of time since they'd begun their relationship in earnest, they'd already moved to comfortably admitting their love to each other. Chakotay was an excellent lover, but he was also tender and caring. Kathryn relished the feeling of sleeping next to Chakotay. She cherished every moment she had next to him. It was one of the reasons that she dreaded being held in sick bay. She adored the safe and warm feeling of Chakotay's embrace. She didn't want to spend several nights without it.

Together they were already talking about whether or not they wanted to perform some kind of marriage act for the show of it—since they'd already made their private declarations to one another—and they were actively seeking to start a family and add to the numbers on the ship. They wanted their own child to be one of those that would eventually become part of the new crew that would help get them home.

In fact, Kathryn suspected that stopping her use of the monthly contraceptive with the thought of one day carrying Chakotay's child had been at least one of the reasons that recent events had even been possible.

At least she knew, though, or had a pretty good feeling, that she was capable of carrying a child when the time was right. Just the thought was enough to make her smile.

The thought of a guaranteed seventy five years together, if they survived that long, put their relationship on its own path moving at a speed similar to the warp ten that Kathryn had recently experienced.

Gone were the days of deliberation that had accompanied some new relationships on Earth. Relationships were being formed quickly and people were moving from one "stage" of their relationships to another without too much hesitation. The ship would need replacement crew. In a matter of speaking, those who could find a relationship had a duty to save the species—or at least the "species" of the ship. The ship was small enough that it might allow for some changing of partners, but there wasn't enough room to hold grudges. If they had a conflict, they simply had to figure out how to work it out.

The dynamics of relationships were different than when they were all facing a lifetime on the ship, but they were all adjusting. They were evolving, so to speak, and they were doing it at warp speed—literally and figuratively.

Kathryn had debated whether or not her role as captain would allow her to have love and motherhood, or if she was required to forego all of that in the name of being the captain of the ship. She'd finally addressed it with her crew and they'd enthusiastically assured her that they wanted her to have her private life as well. They were family and, captain or not, they wanted to share that with her.

Kathryn felt blessed, too, to find the love of Chakotay. He was the best man that she knew—that she'd ever known—and he was the best for her that there could be. She recognized how lucky she was that he was there, on Voyager, to spend the next seventy five years with her.

If she had to name a fault of Chakotay's though, before that night, it might have been that he was a touch too in love with her. He was a little too protective and attentive. It could be a bit stifling and was probably the part of their relationship that was most visible to the crew.

Tonight, though, despite the ordeal that she'd just been through, Chakotay wasn't exactly seeming like his normal nurturing self.

In fact, if Kathryn didn't know any better, she'd say that he was sulking.

He was lying on his back, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. Kathryn reached her hand over and touched him. He looked at her, but even in the darkness she could tell that it wasn't with one of the long and tender gazes that he normally used.

"I can feel that they were there," Kathryn said, still ghosting her hand over her tender abdominal muscles. "Inside of me. I feel—almost empty."

"They were there," Chakotay responded. "Three of them."

Kathryn smiled to herself. She could remember nothing of what had happened with her evolved self. She vaguely remembered beginning the transformation, but then her memory went blank until she woke in sick bay. During the time she'd been in her evolved state, however, she'd carried three offspring. She'd given them life.

And, as odd as it felt to her, her stomach sunk as quickly as her spirits took flight with the thought of it. Even though she didn't know them and couldn't remember them, and even though they were practically an alien species, she was a mother and her body didn't seem to know any better. Her body missed them.

"Do you think they'll survive?" Kathryn asked.

"It's probably better if they don't," Chakotay said. "They're the only three of their kind. They belong to a race that hasn't even come to be yet. It's a disruption to that planet."

"You could have brought them back to the ship," Kathryn said.

"What would we have done with them?" Chakotay asked. "They were practically lizard babies."

"I don't know," Kathryn admitted. She could admit to herself that, perhaps, she wasn't thinking clearly. She'd just been through quite a trying ordeal and things were still evening out in her body. She was still coming back into herself. And whether she liked it or not, her hormones still had to even themselves out as well. She'd just given birth. Lizard babies or whatever they might be, they had affected her. "Maybe the doctor's anti-proton radiation could have changed them."

"It was able to change you and Tom because you began life with this DNA," Chakotay said. "The offspring began life with the evolved DNA. It's unlikely that it would have done anything. It may have even killed them. The only other options we had were to leave them there or bring them here as pets. That didn't seem like a very good idea to me to have them here. It would be too confusing to have to say—these are super-evolved humans. They're also the offspring of Kathryn and Tom."

Kathryn detected the note of bitterness in Chakotay's voice that was unmistakable then. She'd been telling herself, before, that she was imagining it, but now she was sure that it wasn't her imagination. Kathryn sat up and switched on her light so that the two of them weren't bathed in darkness any longer.

Chakotay sat up. He looked almost angry at her for turning on the light.

"You're supposed to be resting," Chakotay said. "Doctor's orders for at least three days."

"You're angry with me," Kathryn said. "About what happened?"

Chakotay glared at her. She'd seen that look on the Bridge, but she'd never seen it in the private quarters that they were now sharing.

"Go to sleep, Kathryn," Chakotay said. "It's been a long night for everyone."

Kathryn almost laughed at the absurdity that Chakotay would be mad at her for what had taken place.

"Please explain this to me, Chakotay," Kathryn said. "Are you mad at me because I was rendered unconscious and kidnapped? Or was it because I was on a shuttle that broke through the warp ten barrier and my DNA evolved until it turned me into a creature that I can't even remember being? Or—maybe—it was the fact that, during this time that I can't even remember, I mated with the only other creature like myself and produced offspring. Offspring which you left behind, I might add, without any thought about my feelings in the matter. And then I was brought back through the process of changing my DNA again. Which part is it, Chakotay, which makes you the angriest with me?"

Chakotay sighed and his facial expression softened only a little.

"I'm not mad at you," he said.

"I don't believe you," Kathryn informed him.

His expression softened a little more.

"If it hadn't been for me," Chakotay said, "you wouldn't have been off your birth control and you probably wouldn't have conceived offspring."

"I might have," Kathryn said. "It could be part of the DNA change. It could've been caused by some kind of biological drive to save a species that was made up of only two entities." She shook her head at Chakotay and offered him a soft smile. "Please don't be mad at me about this. There was nothing I could do about it."

"I know," Chakotay said, his features softening the rest of the way. "But—it's always going to be Tom."

Kathryn's stomach twisted almost violently. She understood, all at once, the emotion that Chakotay was feeling. Maybe it wasn't anger after all. At least, not in its purest form.

"It's always going to be Tom what?" Kathryn asked. "That kidnapped me? That took me to warp ten speed for my DNA to practically be scrambled?"

Chakotay frowned. He reached his hand over and rubbed Kathryn's stomach through the soft cloth of her nightgown.

"That had a baby with you first," Chakotay said. "Three, actually. I can't even compete with that."

Kathryn took Chakotay's hand in hers and raised it to her lips. She felt for him because she could see that it bothered him. He wasn't trying to hide his expression from her.

"It was a different situation altogether," Kathryn said. "We still don't know what will happen with Seska or if she's really carrying your child. But, just like this, that's a different situation. We'll handle it together, but it doesn't get to hurt our relationship. Besides—you'll be the first I have a human baby with. A simple, not-super-evolved, human baby."

"We've been trying for months, Kathryn," Chakotay said. "And—you're out there two hours with Tom and..."

"And I produced three offspring that were able to run away when you approached," Kathryn said. She laughed to herself. I may be able to do things like that in my evolved form, but in this body it's just not possible. I'm going to do things a lot slower than I did as—whatever I was. You're going to have to be patient with me, Chakotay. I want us to have a baby as much as you do, but it'll happen when it's time. I can't make it happen any faster."

"But if it doesn't happen," Chakotay said, "then I'll always know that Tom was able to..."

"And if what she says is true," Kathryn said, interrupting him, "then I'll know Seska was able to conceive your child. Chakotay it's a horrible way to think. Thinking like that is only going to hurt us both. It's going to hurt our relationship. It's toxic to the both of us. Besides, the doctor's said there's nothing wrong with me and there's nothing wrong with you. It can happen. We can have a child together. But it's my first pregnancy and he said that might mean that it just takes some time for my body to figure out how to put everything together." She laughed to herself. "I guess, technically, I can't say it's my first pregnancy anymore, so maybe, ironically, this will be just what we've needed to move things along."

Chakotay broke and gave Kathryn the first hint of anything that she'd seen that even resembled a smile since she'd first opened her eyes in sick bay and recognized everyone around her. Sensing that the worst part of whatever argument they might have was behind them, Kathryn lie back in the bed again. Chakotay moved to somewhat hover over her.

"I don't want to be jealous," he said. "But—with you? Everything makes me jealous. And this was a big blow, Kathryn. I know it wasn't you. Not really. I know it wasn't your decision and...I know all that. But it still made me feel jealous."

Kathryn smiled at him. She nodded.

"I understand," she said. "I get a feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I even hear Seska's name. I hate that she hurt you. But I also hate that she might be carrying your child. I'm not immune to jealousy, Chakotay. I just know that it's better not to bring it to our bed. At least, not if there's nothing that either of us can do to remedy the situation."

Chakotay leaned and kissed Kathryn's lips before he returned to his position sitting over her.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," Kathryn assured him. "Did you love me even when I was a lizard?"

She laughed to herself at his expression.

"I would love you no matter your form," Chakotay said. "I'm happy to have you back, though. It scared me that I couldn't tell you two apart. And, for a minute there, I thought I'd lost you. I didn't know if the doctor was going to be able to bring you back to me."

"Here I am," Kathryn said.

"Exhausted," Chakotay said. "You need to rest."

"I will," Kathryn assured him. "Soon. And the doctor's going to try to make sure that I get a few days of rest in."

"You will," Chakotay said. "I'll see to that. He said that it shouldn't affect your ability to have a child in the future and it shouldn't affect the DNA of any future children you might have. Also, he told me that you and I—well, he'd prefer it if we waited at least a month to be together again."

"He didn't tell me that," Kathryn said.

"He figured I would get around to telling you," Chakotay said. "Just in case, he doesn't want anything to happen too quickly. It'll give you time to...heal. You don't want to accidentally get pregnant too soon and possible cause your body too much stress and strain."

"At least for a month you can still hold me," Kathryn said. "We can still sleep together. It'll give us a little more time to talk about how we want to handle things. It'll give us more time to plan."

Chakotay nodded. They'd done plenty of planning and discussing and everything else. They filled every empty hour with talk about their life together and their future family. He reached and rested his hand gently on her stomach again.

"You're sore? It hurts?" He asked.

"A little," Kathryn said. "Nothing terrible. Nothing that won't heal."

Chakotay changed his position and brought his lips down to gently kiss her stomach through the soft cloth that covered it. Kathryn ran her fingers through his hair.

"You don't have to," she said.

He looked at her and smiled.

"I want to," he said. "I really do. I haven't even asked you if there was anything I could get for you. If there was anything I could do for you," Chakotay said. "It would be good practice for me, you know, for later."

"Later?" Kathryn asked.

"After we have our own," Chakotay said. "The next time you do this."

"I hope it's a little different next time," Kathryn said.

"It will be," Chakotay promised.

"For one thing," Kathryn said, "next time I'd rather not give birth in the sand on a swampy beach somewhere like where you said you found us. I'd like you to be with me. And—I'd like for us to have our baby to bring home afterward, even if home is just to our quarters."

Chakotay frowned.

"I shouldn't have left them behind," he said. "Even if there was nothing we could do, I should have let you make that decision. If you want them, Kathryn, I'll go look for them. I'll take a shuttle first thing in the morning."

Kathryn laughed to herself.

"And what, Chakotay? Hunt down my lizard babies on a planet you know nothing about? No," Kathryn said. "It's for the best. However it works out, it's for the best. You did the right thing. Besides, it would be impossible to explain that to their future brothers and sisters. It's better the way it is. It's just going to take me a few minutes to get back to normal, that's all. Right now, I just feel—a little empty."

Chakotay kissed her again. Then he settled down next to her in the bed and brushed his fingers over her cheek.

"Not for long," he promised. "Before you know it, we'll have one of our own. Right here."

"I'd like that," Kathryn said.

"Yeah?" Chakotay asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

She smiled at the smirk he was wearing.

"Yeah," she assured him.

"It won't take long," Chakotay assured her again. He rubbed his hand over her stomach. The feeling was a little soothing to Kathryn's aching muscles. Of course, she typically found everything about Chakotay to be comforting and now he was trying to soothe her with both his touch and his voice. "Not now."

Kathryn laughed quietly to herself.

"I know it won't," she assured him, putting her hand over his. "We do everything fast around here. Do you forgive me for mating with Tom?"

Chakotay hummed at her.

"Just this once," he said. "As long as you never do it again."

"I promise," Kathryn said. "From now on, there's no other man for me than you."

Chakotay pulled her to him and kissed the side of her face.

"Good," he said. "Because—there's no other lizard-woman for me."


End file.
